It's all about the practice...

With all the events and challenges that have affected us across the planet this year - never before has mindfulness been more needed than it is today.

Mindfulness is certainly not a new thing, in fact it's been around for 1000's of years, it's just we've only cottoned on recently that this may be something we need to support our health as much as our 5 daily veg.

Most people know the term 'Mindfulness' - however many misinterpret the intent of mindfulness about simply being calm.

Yet mindfulness is so much more than just being calm.

Yes, this can certainly be one of the effects that we experience more as we flex our mindful muscle. However, really the offering that mindfulness gives us, is to be more present in our life and more resilient through uncertainty and challenges. It promotes a widening of our perspective, a dialling down of the judgement and catastrophising of our minds and a dialling up of the kindness, compassion and clarity to see more clearly, so we become more aware of our own unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours.

That is the gold right there. No matter how gnarly and uncomfortable it can feel - and it often does - yet still we build our capacity to be with that.

Through the insight that mindful awareness provides us, we can make better choices, cultivate better relationships and focus on what really matters most, rather than wasting our energy on what doesn't. 

Here's the catch though... you can't just download an app or read a book - you need to PRACTICE - everyday if possible.

Like any skill you want to learn and master, it's about gaining knowledge about it, setting up a routine and then practicing over and over and over again. Maybe with some guidance to get you started, until you can practice on your own. 

Practice, practice practice! This is the only way. There is no quick fix, no 'you've completed all levels' alert that shows up after a certain amount of sits. No one stop shot or elixir you can drink. You have to DO it (ie meditate) - over and over again so mindfulness becomes a habit that trickles steadily into your wider life, and even then you still keep practicing. Showing up, repeatedly - a sacred ritual that allows you to savour and navigate what this being human business is all about.

As Jon Kabat-Zinn says "You don't have to like it - you just have to do it".

Sometimes you will show up and be in the ZONE and sometimes you will show up and your mind with feel like it's inside a pinball machine bouncing around (and you will likely find the latter turns up more often than the former). My mind is usually like an untrained puppy - even after 9 years of consistent practice it wanders when I meditate, I simply notice and show up again. Every single moment an opportunity to start over, because I know if I don't everything is just a little harder, a little heavier, a little crazier and a littler blurrier.

Practice, not to make perfect - practice to make permanent.

Practice to be more resilient for sure, practice to perform and focus better, yes, but most of all practice to notice the preciousness of your life - all those little moments that can so easily be missed.

“The little things? The little moments? They aren't little.” ― Jon Kabat-Zinn

If you are keen to build up a regular Mindfulness Practice, explore your thought patterns, learn some useful models and gain a good understanding of how to embed mindfulness into your life - then enrolling on an 8 week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course is an excellent place to start. This course is science based and the gold standard in Mindfulness Courses, designed by renowned Jon Kabat-Zinn. It is also the course featured in the award winning film 'My Year of Living Mindfully'.

My next MBSR course starts in wellington on 7th September 2020. However if you are keen to do a course but not local - email me at [email protected] and I can either advise on good teachers running courses in your area, or put you on my waiting list to get in touch when my next virtual MBSR course becomes available.

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Lotty Roberts is a forward thinker in New Zealand in the field of mindful change, leadership and workplace cultures, with over 20 years’ experience in a corporate setting, delivering and leading others through large scale change and transformation. 

Lotty has now founded her business - ‘Mind U’ - where she uses her hands on experience as a leader, change and emotional culture expert, professional facilitator and registered mindfulness based stress teacher to help organisations build the culture, mindset and capability to mindfully lead and navigate themselves through change.